Why the Tea Party movement is a game changer

The hostility and jaded news coverage that the Tea Party movement evokes suggests that it must be on to something really big. It would be a mistake to frame or limit understanding this new political phenomenon to just anti-incumbent attitudes or to the issue menus of either Democrats or Republicans. The Tea Party transcends contemporary politics and is animated by powerful enduring ideas that were central to the nation’s founding as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution: freedom, the natural law of inalienable rights, and the sovereignty of the people that requires limited government.

Remarkably, the Tea Party movement has gained national prominence with unpaid volunteers in just a year and a half. Its people come from every walk of life from all over the country. What has brought them together is an acute awareness that Washington has been tone deaf to the voices of the people. They are tired and bored with the posturing of both Democrats and Republicans. Through the Tea Party, the silent majority now has a giant megaphone.

Candor, authenticity

The Tea Party movement provides a fresh and unvarnished combination of candor, authenticity and idealism. In the age of YouTube, politicians are having difficulty in managing their image or their audience through a largely supplicant news media. Something more fascinating and real is taking place in town hall meetings rather than in staged press conferences. In fact, it would appear that average citizens have more courage to play hardball with politicians than do too many in the Washington-centric media.

Conventional news reporting has become increasingly passé in the digital age where pervasive recording devices and Internet distribution have empowered average people to cut through political doubletalk and denial. Lawmakers can no longer hide in smoke-filled rooms or deflect with mere press releases. Spontaneous responses with common-sense zingers from people like Joe the Plumber are a lot more lively and revealing. The Tea Party folks don’t stand in the line to genuflect before an adoring media. Perhaps that’s where the conflict begins. Even so, in spite of Democratic strategists who seek to discredit or belittle the Tea Party as a mere speed bump rather than a road block, there’s no denying that this movement is a game changer. (Source: USA Today)

Go to the source and read the whole thing. Will it be a game changer in Wisconsin elections like it has been in other states? A fair question considering that at least in the 8th Congressional race no candidate appears to have caught fire with the movement.